Rallying for education

Saturday will be a special anniversary for one local GANG.No, it’s not one of the criminal gangs that have been making the headlines recently, but the Project Reach God’s Anointed New Generation (commonly referred to as GANG). The group of young gospel singers and volunteers, will host its 10th annual Back-to-School Rally in Riceboro’s Briar Bay Park on Saturday.“This is a major mile marker for the group,” GANG Executive Director Lavonia LeCounte said. “We’re very excited about this year’s event and the new things we’re adding to it.”The rally is meant to reach the county’s young people and get them stirred up and excited about going back to school and to motivate the entire community, especially parents, teachers and mentors, to get involved with the upcoming school year, LeCounte said.To help usher in that motivation, this year’s rally will feature WTOC’s Magic Mark and guest speaker Liberty County Board of Education Chairman Lily Baker, as well as free food, games, school supplies, health checks, college recruiters and a host of sports tournaments. While previous rallies have ended in the afternoon, this year's event will also consist of an evening concert featuring contemporary gospel performances from area artists, including a set by the singers of GANG.“This will be the first year we’ve held a Back-to-School Rally concert and it’s free as well,” LeCounte said. “There will be a musician jam for about 20 minutes before the concert starts and people can bring their lawn chairs, sit back on the grass and just enjoy some great music.”In the event of bad weather, the party will move to the Brewton-Parker College auditorium, but LeCounte said she is expecting good weather for a good time.“We’re really looking forward to a great time on Saturday and it’s all free,” she said. “We want everyone to come out and help push our youth community to a higher level than where they're currently at.”The rally is set for 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The musician jam session is scheduled to begin around 6:30 p.m., with the evening concert following at 7.For more information on the event, call LeCounte at 884-2057 or 977-3951.